Brazil - Cultural Attitude Towards Time By: Dahdrian Dailey

Brazilian culture and the way Brazilians live their every day lives is very indicative of how time plays a large part in their culture. Time spent with family, time spent with friends, and the way they interact with the rest of the world all describe their culture and shows their attitude towards time.

• Brazilian culture is very unique and one example is their way of living. You can relate to their culture through studying their interaction with their family and learning their way of living. Brazilians spend as much time as possible visiting together with their family members. • The Brazilian way of living can be explained by examining their traditions. The way they value their culture is very impressive. Spending time with family is very important. They gather together as often as possible and at the dinner table they share information about one another. • Brazilians spend a great amount of time with their family, which is a big attribute of their tradition. Brazilians believe that it is very important for them to spend time with their family, especially during dinner time. At dinner, they discuss things that have happened in the past and stories that have been around in the family for many years. Brazilians are known to be late eaters and eat their dinner with family beginning at 8:30 at night. When after dinner time is over, they laugh and share jokes. • If you are planning to take a trip to Brazil and are still unsure about a few things, you can start by learning their customs. If you have never been to Brazil and are considering taking a trip there, you can learn about their customs and help you to understand their way of living. • Brazilians lunch time is one of their most important customs. Lunch time normally runs for two hours so they can spend their lunch time with their family. Brazilians having the opportunity to go home during their lunch time is a key part of their culture. • The culture of Brazil is known to have been carried down from generation to generation. They value their culture and depending on the time of the year, they gather to celebrate special events, events such as carnivals. These carnivals are where many Brazilians gather in the street and celebrate. • Brazilians are known to practice a variety of different lifestyles. Their lifestyle has been adopted from many different countries and from different parts of the world. The way they prepare their meals are from recipes that were from countries from all over the world, such as Jamaica and Haiti. • Brazilians love to gather around and spend time with friends. As part of their culture they would gather with friends to have a few drinks and a good time. Drinking, partying, talking and having conversations most likely will carry on all night. After drinking, the feast begins promptly around 11: 00 O’clock at night. The host of the dinner party cannot leave the sight of the table until the meal is over. The host must remain by the dinner table at all times, which is part of their culture. • Brazilian culture has not changed dramatically as time has passed. If you have not noticed, the ethnic diversity has been changing rapidly over the years and is still changing, “it is believed that over the past 40 years the number of mulattoes has greatly increased, while the percentage of whites and blacks in the total population has dropped” (Richard 41). As time passes, ethnicity in Brazil has changed over time, for instance family and friends have learned to adapt to the rest of the world, their social customs are changing.

Works Cited

Brasil. Brazilian History. Traveling in Brazil, 03/16/08 http://www.brazil-travel-guide.com/Brazil-History.html

Fodor’s. Brazil. 3rd ed. Random House Inc, New York. 2004.

Richard, Christopher. Culture of the World. Marshall Cavendish Corporation. 1991.

Vincent, Jon S. Culture and Customs of Brazil. Westport, CT 2003.